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3's short history has been plagued by a litany of image problems.

Its hotly anticipated arrival was trailed for several months before finally launching in March. It has been beset with complaints over clunky handsets, short battery life and dropped calls. And main backer Hutchison Whampoa is suing minority shareholder KPN over the latter's refusal to stump up more cash to support the venture.

But for 3, one million remains the magic number. Despite disappointing sales, Britain's much-maligned maiden 3G network is sticking to its end-of-year target for customer numbers.

Having conducted a review of its advertising account, it last week kept faith with TBWA\London as the agency to woo the masses to its video phones with a fresh creative strategy.

On the face of it, the target looks wildly optimistic. According to the firm's figures released in mid-May, it had clocked up just 25,000 customers. While it isn't due to update these figures until next week, sales reported by retailers suggest it has topped 100,000, still woefully short of its target.

While its advertising, currently using the strapline 'Open your eyes', has focused on the benefits of sending video clips rather than the technology, consumers have refused to fork out £300 for its handsets.

What's more, customers flocked to it only once it had cut its prices on standard voice calls and offered handsets at knockdown prices. This suggests a case has yet to be made for video mobile, even in the popular territory of Premiership football.

With the other mobile networks delaying the roll-out of video services to next year at the earliest, 3 carries the expectations of an industry on its own. Intermediate services such as Vodafone Live! have proven much more popular.

So what should 3 do to kick-start demand? We asked Jez Frampton, chief executive of brand consultancy Innocence, whose main client is Orange, and Alison Pye, senior brand manager at Virgin Mobile.

VITAL SIGNS
3's price plans         VideoTalk 500           VideoTalk 750
                       £25 a month       £35 a month
UK voice calls          500 minutes             750 minutes
UK video calls          £10 worth         £20 worth
UK video messages       Allowance               Allowance
Inclusive content       First three months      First three months
3's price plans         VideoTalk 1000          VideoTalk 2000
                       £60 a month       £100 a month
UK voice calls          1000 minutes            2000 minutes
UK video calls          50 minutes              100 minutes
UK video messages       100                     50
Inclusive content       £15 value         £30 value
Source: 3

DIAGNOSIS

JEZ FRAMPTON

3 has certainly caught our attention, but has it really established its brand? Brand awareness, undoubtedly, but brand understanding?

I'm not so sure.

It hasn't done a great job building the 3G category, but has it managed to own it? In a way, 3 was much more of a threat to the market when it was a rumour.

Somehow the reality has not quite achieved traction.

I like the latest advertising, but on closer inspection it does feel a bit like Apple. I love the identity - apparently the colour-changing logos in the stores are all controlled by one chip at head office. But we keep asking ourselves one thing: why?

The answer seems to be 'because it's got video', but isn't that going to become more generic? Maybe it's the revolution promised in the ad, but isn't that the category? The focus on huge voice bundles is, for many, the most compelling reason to switch so far. But what if their competitors decide to engage? And are the handsets suited to heavy voice use?

Maybe 3 has yet to discover the trigger for this new form of communication.

It took a bunch of teenagers to unlock the power of text. Keep watching the kids.

ALISON PYE

It would be hard to work at 3 in its marketing department at the moment, as the product does not really work in the way its advertising claims. And that is the worst situation to be in.

It must have all seemed so exciting at the start and now it is a really hard slog to sell mobile phones that under-deliver to a market that is not quite ready for them.

To watch a goal on a phone or speak to a mate over a video is really cool, and over the coming years I'm sure that some of the services 3 offers will become part of our daily lives.

The mistake 3 has made is that the brand is being very public about the fact that, in order to remain on business plan, it needs to drop its trousers on price. As a result, the communication, which started off attempting to brand-build, now simply appears to beg the consumer to understand its plight.

Its key strength is the slick design style, which, with its many colours seems to attempt to emulate Apple. It is certainly engaging and is right for its positioning in the market.

TREATMENT

- The clock is ticking on the competition entering the market. Answer the question 'why?' and claim leadership.

- Build on the human and playful elements of the brand.

- Beware the cheap voice approach - it could be attracting customers for the wrong reasons.

- Brief the ad agency to come up with a campaign that justifies the huge amount it is spending on the currently pedestrian ads.

- Move the call centre back from India to be sure to offer brilliant customer service and help explain this new and complicated technology most effectively.

- Beg a handset manufacturer to hurry up with a phone design that isn't so large and prone to faults.